Blossoming Hope
by mariosister
Summary: Some things may be more than they seem... Short Story thingy that may or may not be so much of a fanfic. It's not really linked to anything...rated K plus for mentioning smoking and such, but it's not a main thing. This might have a sequel if people are willing to see one!


**AN: Wow. It's been how long now?**

 **Here's a story fanfic thingy I've been working on. Enjoy!**

It seems odd, now that I think back on what happened all those years ago. Surely, this was all a fatal mistake of too much trust? The boy I met when I was at the tender age of 10 was a life-changer for me, and I'm sure I changed his life forever as well.

When I was younger, my father owned a flower shop and home-grew all his flowers in our little, fenced garden. He planted many flowers: zinnias, azaleas, morning glories, and the like, but the flowers he most adored and loved the most were those that were planted all by myself, his daughter, Eliam. I always loved going out with my father to the quaint little garden to keep after my Italian sunflowers, mainly because he'd give me big bear hugs every five minutes. Even my mother pitched in a few times; although she had said time and time again that she didn't want her hands to get dirty.

After only a month after I had planted my Italian sunflowers, the first one was almost ready to bloom. My parents all came outside in the 11 AM sun, when, all of a sudden, I heard a gasping noise behind me. I quickly turned around to see my mother staggering on her feet, looking as if she saw a ghost. I was alien to this type of behavior, especially since my mother had never shown any signs of illness before.

At least, not directly to me.

It was revealed later to me that my mother had long since been suffering from lung cancer because of her previous years smoking. It was revealed later to me that she was a smoker when she was only eighteen years old. It occurred to me then: why my mother was taking more pills than my father, why she never wanted to go out unless she needed to, and how she loved me so much, how she wanted to do everything with me, that she wanted to go everywhere my father and I went. Of course, this is reality; cruel to anyone who plays with death.

That night, I was so devastated that I never wanted to go to bed, and instead, I wanted to cry. Cry in my mother's lap as she sang me a song, telling me over and over again that everything would be alright, even though it wasn't. That night, I made it a point to check on my Italian sunflowers.

11:55, I made it down the stairs that go to my room to the back door.

11:56, I found my small patch and saw the moon shine down on the unopened sunflower bud.

11:57, 11:58, 11:59. I lost track of time, fell to my knees, and wept right on the tip of the sunflower bud.

I stayed on my knees for an eternity, and I knew the grandfather clock struck midnight on this horrible remake of a Cinderella tale. It was already Saturday. No mother, still. Knowing crying wouldn't be what she would want me to do, I simply trudged upstairs into my room, exhausted and depressed.

The next morning, I was fully woken by a young but dirty face. The face shone bright, with two bulging blue eyes attached to tanned skin. A cool breeze swept the face's chocolate locks, and as I took a closer look, this face belonged to a body, and the body to a boy. I had never met this boy. His voice was melodic when he greeted me, as if he was singing instead of saying the two words: "Ciao, bella".

When he asked for my name, I realized then that he was mentioning me. He swept a stray strand of my maroon hair behind my ear. "Eliam," I maintained eye-contact with him.

"Ay-lee-am? Nice to meet you. I'm Alius!" Alius gave a toothy grin, reminding me to brush my teeth. What happened next surprised me. Alius held out a tiny drop of water on his finger. I started thinking he was crazy until the water-drop exploded in front of me, revealing my face in the sun.

"I like your sunflowers, by the way," he commented, "but I can help you plant a new one for the one I ripped up from the ground, sorry."

I leaped out of bed, looked out my window, and saw that, indeed, the first blooming sunflower was gone, and only muddy footprints led from there.

"I didn't like to see you sad."

It came to me. My sunflower wasn't gone; he was my sunflower.

With that in mind, I led him to my bathroom and told him to take a bath. "Bathing?" he asked. "I've heard of it. Didn't this one man tell you to take a bath once? And then when you came back, you smelled nice!" he smiled again. "I think the only bathing I got was rain. Does that count?"

"Sure. Um, I think I have something that could help you."

I showed him how to work the shower, then cautioned him not to turn it up or down. I kept the water lukewarm, so he wouldn't burn himself and he wasn't freezing when he got out. However, when he was done, he came out with a towel on only, and dressed in my room. I tried hard to look somewhere else and tell him to put some clothes on.

I gave him breakfast before my father woke up. Knowing him, I didn't want him to know about Alius yet. So, I made Alius go outside when my father wasn't looking, then told him to tell my father that he was my best friend, and if we could hang out today. My father bought it, and we went to the park to go cloud watching.

After an hour or so of watching clouds, I started to get bored when thunder came to my ears. It immediately started to rain, and instead of cowering down, Alius stood tall and picked me up, bridal-style, and ran back to the house.

"Since you've taken care of me, it's my turn now!" Alius clapped happily. He explained why he could pick me up (the rain gave him strength, he said) and why he liked it. Alius made himself sweat through his finger, then made the liquid burst into mini fireworks a few times, then announced I should get some rest.

He climbed into bed with me and whispered, "I wish I was human, too."

The next day, he urgently shook me, practically shouting he had to tell me something. He whined that a silhouette in his dream told him he had to take a sort of elixir, making me agree to help him on his 'noble' sort of quest. I earned an eager nod as Alius began to list off a dozen items. I quickly jotted it all down on paper, then searched the house. The list was easy (cinnamon, lemon juice and zest, hair from Alius, etc.) until I came to the last one: Hilltop Kiss.

I knew what it meant: we had to kiss each other on the hilltop, near the lake. I made him explain himself, testing him to see if this was all a plot just to kiss me. I was instead met with a rigorous shake of Alius's head. The tears that rained down from his cheeks were cold, not at all warm, and not salty, either. After a small feeling of resentment, I quickly told him what the last ingredient meant, and he gave me a confused glance.

I eyed him suspiciously, and when I saw him fidget from the uncomfortable atmosphere, I deemed it safe to move on. Next to the last ingredient, a time was next to it, one that I'd never have guessed: 11:59 P.M. I thought of a great phrase to put after it: be there or be square.

11:00 came too soon. My father was asleep, and Alius instinctively woke me up. I put on some shoes (he just put on some spare socks) and we left. 11:30, and we were at the foot of the hill. All we had to do was make the climb, but I had to carry Alius because he couldn't make it up the first minute. 11:50, and we finally were at the top.

"Oh…" Alius moaned, "I don't feel so good, Eliam…" 11:51; we were running out of time.

I shoved the well-mixed elixir into his mouth as he drank it all in a minute's time. 11:52.

Dark clouds gathered to where we were. Not anywhere else, but just there. 11:53.

All I heard was Alius shouting, but at 11:54, and I almost got struck by lightning. Alius was lying before me, breathing slower by the second. 11:55. Before I could get into position, a tree blocked my path to him, but I quickly jumped over it. 11:56.

11:57.

White light started coming out from Alius, and I saw his legs beginning to turn green, and I then saw them painfully coming together.

11:58.

Keeping an eye on my watch, I hovered over him, as I got down on my knees. I took my hand, placed it in his, and kissed him, right as the clock on my watch struck 11:59.

Wind blew into my face as I felt like I was flying. Alius regained his legs, and soon, he put his free hand on my back. Slowly, but surely, we stood up, not caring about the rain or the thunder at all as my watch finally showed it was Sunday already. We both collapsed, but I felt like I was being lifted.

The next years after that came by as a blur. Alius and I went to the same middle school, Alius started dating me, we went to high school and college together, Alius proposed, and we got married. We had two children together, and we named our son Andrian, our daughter Luna (although I bet you can guess who named who), but we affectionately called them Sun and Moon. The next years after that came and went. Andrian finally got his degree in mechanical engineering, and our beautiful daughter Luna got her degree in astronomy. Both are living well now, and they have kids of their own. Of course, Alius and I are living healthy lives, and we are both well into our nineties.

As I stare back at the man who, quite literally, was planted in my life, I can't help but think of how well we spent our years together, going to many different places after the other. As I gaze into his eyes, his clouded but youthful eyes, I know he wants me to be happy, but all he wants to do is break down and cry as the doctor comes back in. I listen to what he says with Alius, but the cousin to my mother's killer is no match for me. No matter how much I try assuring him, my husband continues crying and asking why I have to suffer, and not him.

He is the one I cared for. Now, as he stated so long ago, it's his turn again as he softly weeps next to me, a new Italian sunflower on the bedside table.


End file.
